LawMemo - First in Employment Law

Ross Runkel, editor

LawMemo's reason for being: We publish Employment Law Memo - summaries of latest court decisions, one-click links to full text, three emails per week.   Try it. 
Editor: Ross Runkel, Professor of Law Emeritus. email Ross@LawMemo.Com, Phone 503-399-8028. 


LawMemo Employment Law Blog 
All Archives    |    All Archives By Topic 
Also read LawMemo Arbitration Blog


« EEOC policy on race and color discrimination | Main | Sex harassment meets first amendment - court ducks the issue »

FMLA 50-employee threshold overcome by equitable estoppel
April 19, 2006 by Ross Runkel at LawMemo

Can an employee overcome the FMLA 50-employee threshold by using the doctrine of equitable estoppel? Minard v. ITC Deltacom (5th Cir 04/18/2006) says yes.

Family Medical Leave Act applies only when the employer has 50 or more employees.

Minard claimed that the employer told her she was eligible for FMLA leave, and therefore the employer should not be allowed to assert that the 50-employee threshold has not been met.

The 5th Circuit agreed, saying:

an employer who without intent to deceive makes a definite but erroneous representation to his employee that she is an “eligible employee” and entitled to leave under FMLA, and has reason to believe that the employee will rely upon it, may be estopped to assert a defense of non-coverage, if the employee reasonably relies on that representation and takes action thereon to her detriment.

The court remanded for findings on whether Minard actually relied.

LawMemo.Com


Google
 
Web www.LawMemo.com 
This form will search the LawMemo web site. It does not include the Caselaw Database.
  • Employment Law Memo emails designed for lawyers. 
  • Expert summaries of decisions from all federal and state appellate courts. 
  • Direct link to full text. 
  • Click here for free 4-week subscription 
 

Home | Free Trial | Products & Prices | Feeds | Caselaw Database | Sample   
EEOC
| NLRB | Nat'l Arbitration Ctr | Supreme Court | Articles | Lawyers
Employment Law BlogArbitration Blog | Employment Law 101    
Employment Law Memo | NLRB Law Memo | Arbitration Law Memo

Editor: Ross Runkel, Professor of Law Emeritus. email Ross@LawMemo.Com, Phone 503-399-8028. Copyright LawMemo, Inc.